It’s a long way to go between drinks but on 12th February 2018 motoring adventurer Ben Coombs pulled up for a pint of beer at a bar in Tierra del Fuego, Chile. It marked the end of a journey that had begun seven months and, 20,000 miles, 3 continents and 21 countries away, with another pint of beer on the … Read More

‘You were running a good race. Who cut in on you?’ This could well have been the question asked of Elise Christie following her heart-breaking exit from the 2018 Olympic 500m short track speed-skating final. Having set a new Olympic record in the quarter finals she was poised to take the gold she missed out on in Sochi four years … Read More

With depressing regularity I watch TV adverts from companies promising superfast Broadband, only to discover that the service is not yet available in our area. It’s one of the few downsides of living in a village that we’re low on the list when it comes to installing the necessary infrastructure to deliver new technology. For now at least we must … Read More

So that we could get our Christmas Tree into the lounge this year, I had to move an armchair into my study. Since it was there I started to use it and when the Christmas Tree went, the armchair stayed. But to make space for it I had to rearrange the whole room, including moving my desk from in front … Read More

In November 2017 Belgian performance artist Mikes Poppe attached himself to a chain buried deep inside an enormous block of marble and set about chiselling himself free. For Poppe the block represented the ‘burden of history from which artists cannot escape.’ But after 19 days of eating, sleeping, drawing and chiselling he had to admit defeat and call in an … Read More

Modern living can sometimes seem like a long succession of races in which we are always trying to beat our neighbour to some goal or other – whether it be a place for our child in the local school, a promotion at work, or a seat on the train. And up until now the races have even continued on holiday … Read More

Growing up in the 1940’s Ingvar Kamprad struggled with dyslexia. As a reward for trying hard at school his father gave him a gift of money and he used it to start a small furniture business. One day as he struggled to fit a table into the back of a car his colleague observed, “This table takes up too much … Read More

The story is told of two soldiers who decided as a prank to smuggle a goat into their barracks. Foreseeing a potential flaw in the plan one of the soldiers remarked to the other, “What about the smell?” Without hesitation the reply came back, “The goat will just have to get used to it!” Which just goes to show how … Read More

As the boat pulled away from the harbour, the guide turned to the guests on deck and said, ‘If you want to see what you’ve come to see, then look for the disturbance.’ They were hoping to see whales, and the guide went on to explain that the best place to look was where they could see the water disturbed, … Read More

There’s nothing my daughter and I enjoy more than watching a good detective story on TV. The only problem is she can’t wait until the end to discover who committed the crime. So, while I’m happy to enjoy the show and wait for the big reveal, she’s busy Googling it to see how it’s all going to end. Confronted … Read More